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Bruno (The Dark Knight Returns)
Bruno is a supporting antagonist in Frank Miller's 1986 comic book miniseries Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and a minor antagonist in the 2008 prequel All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder comic book series. She is a brawny Neo-Nazi henchwoman who works for The Joker, Gotham City's most dangerous criminal, possibly being his lover too. While Bruno works as the Joker's right-hand during Dick Grayson's early days as Robin, by the time of Batman's return to action during the Cold War period, Bruno is now the leader of the Brunos, her own gang, yet she returns to help the Joker on his plans when he recovers from his catatonic state. She is also a supporting antagonist in the 2012-2013 animated film adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, appearing as a minor antagonist in the first half of Part 2. She was voiced by . Biography ''All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder'' By the time Dick Grayson became Robin the Wonder Boy, Batman's first sidekick, Bruno is already working for The Joker, Gotham City's most dangerous and psychotic criminal. After the Joker kills the attorney Donna Gugina by crushing her larnyx after having sex with her, he orders Bruno to clean up the mess as he goes to contact Catwoman. Bruno listens her boss' orders and proceeds to follow her task, covering Gugina's murder. Following this, Bruno is never seen afterwards in the story. ''The Dark Knight Returns'' Ten years after Batman's retirement, the Joker awakens from his catatonia upon hearing that Batman has returned and defeated the Mutant Leader. Decided to have a final showdown with his archenemy, the Joker hires Bruno once more to assist him on his goals. By this time, Bruno has become the leader of the Brunos, a gang of her own. She accepts the Joker's command and along Don and Rob, two former Mutants, goes to a liquor store to rob it. The dependent seemingly recognizes her (in the film, he doesn't) and she threatens to kill him with her machine gun if he doesn't cooperate. However, an old female beggar appears to reclaim that one of the liquors is less expensive in the 7-Eleven from the other street. Don and Rob then try to kill the woman only for the Brunos to discover that the woman is Batman. While he proves himself during the battle, Bruno manages to escape while Batman renders her henchmen unconscious, asking the dependent to watch them as he goes after Bruno. before being defeated.]] Meanwhile, while running away, Bruno unblocks her machine gun before Carrie Kelley, the new Robin, hits one of her cheeks with a stone by shooting at her with her spring at an alley, leading Bruno to chase her in order to kill her. Carrie deceives Bruno into entering an abandoned building, where Batman confronts her and the two engage in a fight which leads them to fall into the sewers under the building after Bruno detonates the wooden floors with a grenade. Once at the sewers, Batman asks Bruno what the Joker plans for his upcoming appearance in David Endochrine's late night show, but their fight is interrupted when Superman arrives to convince Batman from retiring again. Not recognizing the Man of Steel, Bruno shoots at Superman to no avail until he uses his heat vision to make her drop her machine gun and then takes her to a wall where he ties her with some pipelines. A bit angry due Superman meddling into his affairs, Bruce punches Bruno in the face, knocking her out before talking with Superman to meet him the next day. While what happens with Bruno afterwards is unknown, it can be implied that Bruno was taken in custody and arrested by the police while Don and Rob went somehow to join the Sons of Batman. On the other hand, the Joker, likely not caring about her fate or unaware of it, goes to kill everybody on Endochrine's program before proceeding on a killing spree which would ultimately result on his final battle with the Dark Knight, forcing Bruno's former boss to ultimately kill himself. Trivia *Despite being one of Batman's more obscure enemies and just making two appearances in Frank Miller's controversial Dark Knight Universe, Bruno is nowadays arguably best remembered for the distinctive pair of red swastikas tattooed on her breasts and glutes. *A possible explanation of Bruno's masculine appearance is hidden between the dialogues of The Dark Knight Returns. Upon seemingly recognizing her, the dependent of the liquor store asks Bruno how her operations were, implying that Bruno may be a post-operated transgender woman. However, it could have been an insult from the dependent's part instead. That aside, it's neverthless apparent that Bruno's appearance in All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder looks more femenine than in TDKR. *Bruno's exact age by the time of The Dark Knight Returns is unknown, as she seems to be on her 20s or 30s. However, in All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder, which takes place years before during Dick Grayson's first days as Robin the Boy Wonder, Bruno appears to be on her 20s and 30s too. Taking into account that, Bruno would be around her 50s during the events of The Dark Knight Returns. A likely explanation to this is that All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder is set in a new timeline but borrowing some elements from The Dark Knight Returns, aside that TDKR takes place around the 1980s during the Cold War while A-SB&R,tBW is set in a more modern setting, specifically 2008. *In the animated adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, Bruno only has swastikas tattooed on her breasts whereas her glutes are covered with complete pants. This was most likely done to tone down the character's appearance as it could have been seen as too sexualized or vulgar. *In the Latin American dub of The Dark Knight Returns, Bruno's name is ironic because Bruce Wayne's translated name in those dubbings (only the ones produced on Venezuela) is "Bruno Diaz", thus Bruno fights Bruno. *Along with Abner, Bruno seems to be so far one of the few only henchmen who works for the Joker whom he truly appreciates, not discarding them like usual in the mainstream comics, where the Joker uses to kill his henchmen after they perform their tasks, either for their incompetence or to not leave witnesses. *The fact that Bruno is a Neo-Nazi and works for the Joker is pretty ironic, considering that the mainstream comic book incarnation of the Joker is depicted as hating Nazis, as seen when he discovers Red Skull's true allegiance in the DC vs. Marvel crossover. This is justified, however, as DC vs. Marvel hadn't still been released when The Dark Knight Returns was published. External Links *Bruno - Batman Wiki Category:Batman Villains Category:DC Villains Category:Failure-Intolerant Category:Homicidal Category:Obsessed Category:Leader Category:Minion Category:Movie Villains Category:Nameless Category:Vandals Category:Totalitarians Category:Comic Book Villains Category:Science Fantasy Villains Category:Cartoon Villains Category:Supervillains Category:Femme Fatale